141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

282242
Around the corner to better health: Cultivating healthy corner stores in milwaukee

Monday, November 4, 2013

Staci Young, PhD , Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Alex Barnett , Walnut Way Conservation Corp., Milwaukee, WI
The Lindsay Heights Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) of Milwaukee is a collaborative project that aims to increase access to fresh foods by helping corner stores sell high quality produce in a Milwaukee urban neighborhood. Launched in 2011, the HCSI was formed by a small group of community members in partnership with the Lindsay Heights Neighborhood Health Alliance, Walnut Way Conservation Corp., and Alice's Garden. Partners now include the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Health Department for research, evaluation and policy development. The project aims to promote the business of local corner stores while encouraging the consumption and sales of reasonably priced local fruits and vegetables. Current demonstration activities take a multifaceted approach to improving healthy food access by: 1) building relationships with store owners, 2) supporting businesses in purchasing equipment to stock fresh produce, 3) connecting stores with fresh produce sources, and 4) conducting community outreach and marketing. It also emphasizes the participation of community youth in growing produce for the corner stores and engaging in community outreach and food demonstrations. Ultimately, the Healthy Corner Store initiative encourages youth to use their new experience and perspective to transform their eating habits and to influence the eating habits of those around them. Creating an evaluation plan to effectively measure outcomes has been critical for the project. Lessons learned have included addressing issues such as infrastructure costs, cooperation with property owners, the importance of neighborhood standards, and local policies and regulations affecting business practices.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Describe the collaborative of agencies and key programmatic strategies Explain the evaluation model designed to effectively measure impact Discuss key lessons learned and outcomes related to food access

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Food and Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator for the Healthy Corner Store Initiative. I have 15 years of experience in program planning, implementation and evaluation, specifically with community-based projects.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.